1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle operation device and a vehicle operation method that use two displays.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventionally, a vehicle operation device is known that has an operation unit, on which the operation switches are provided, and a display unit on which the operation menu image is displayed to indicate the layout of the operation switches on the operation unit and their functions. These two units are provided in physically separate positions in the vehicle interior (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2007-69676 (JP 2007-69676 A)). This vehicle operation device images the user's hand, with which to operate the operation unit, with a camera and superimposes the image of the hand on the operation menu image on the display unit, allowing the user to perform operation on the vehicle-mounted devices, without having visual contact with the devices.
In general, the vehicle operation device is configured in such a way that the operation unit is provided in a position closer to the driver's seat (on the driver's side), and the display unit in a position farther from the driver's seat (on the vehicle's front side), to ensure safety. This configuration allows the user to operate the operation unit provided on the driver's side while viewing the display unit provided on the vehicle's front side. On the other hand, in such a configuration where the operation unit and the display unit are provided in physically different positions, it is preferable that sense of unity between the operation unit and the display unit be given while maintaining relationship between the display corresponding to operation unit and the display on the display unit.
In this respect, the vehicle operation device, such as the one described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2007-69676 given above, images the image of the user's hand, with which to operate the operation unit, with a camera and displays the image on the display unit. Therefore, this vehicle operation device maintains relationship in the displays and sense of unity between the operation unit and the display unit via the image of the user's hand though these two units are provided in separate positions. However, it is usually difficult to achieve the sense of unity between the operation unit and the display unit in a configuration where the image of a hand, such as the one described above, is not used. For example, simply displaying the same screen with respect to both the operation unit and the display unit in synchronization mode (dual display) does not fully achieve the sense of unity between the operation unit and the display unit. In such a dual display configuration where the user performs operation while viewing the operation unit, the display on the display unit changes according to an operation on the operation unit. This requires the user (driver) to pay attention also to the display unit, decreasing the operability on the operation unit.